California- Diesels- DMV Regulations- Do I have a chance of keeping my truck?

[maddog]

I have a 98 Ford 800 with a Cummins.
I recently bought it for a project and now I hear about the ridiculous smog laws concerning diesels here in California.
I am shortening mine and putting a dually pickup bed on it and will never carry much weight.
I have no other diesel trucks and dont use it commercially.

I also plan to reduce its GVW when I register it as to not pay all those weight fees. (assuming I can do that?)
I see that under 14K GVW the laws are different or non existent.

Do any of you know the details about this?
Thanks

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[towcat]

welcome to the site.
there's a reason why you got the truck cheap.
keeping it will hinge on getting the GVW cert below 14k. good luck btw.
if you do succeed, please post up how you achieved the goal.
btw, being a '98, your death sentence is 2018 if I real the kill dates properly.

 

[maddog]

I started the registration process today with my DMV lady that I use.
I found this that explains the requirements for declaring GVW

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/commercial/cvra.htm

and on that page I found the form to increase or decrease what weight you are declaring.

http://apps.dmv.ca.gov/forms/reg/reg4008.pdf

So I will know in the morning if it works.
Wish me luck

 

[maddog]

Got the registration done today.
She came back with stickers for the doors with a 15 gvw on them.
She said there was only 10-15 gvw catagory nothing for 12 or 14.
I was a little dissapointed because I had told here 12 gvw so I would be under the 14 gvw limit for replacing the motor.
For now I just went with it because I still have a few years.
I am a little confused at this point.

 

[towcat]

I started the registration process today with my DMV lady that I use.
I found this that explains the requirements for declaring GVW

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/commercial/cvra.htm

and on that page I found the form to increase or decrease what weight you are declaring.

http://apps.dmv.ca.gov/forms/reg/reg4008.pdf

So I will know in the morning if it works.
Wish me luck

There's a huge difference between registered GVW vs. certified GVW. You can register the truck to any GVW you want to, the heavier, the more money the state makes and the state loves money. If you register the truck for too low of a GVW and you are caught operating above the registered max, they fine the heck out of you.
What matters is the certified GVW on your door jamb sticker. That goes with your VIN number. The only time that ever changes is if a chassis refitter modifies a structural part of your vehicle and obtains the necessary certification to show they truck is now able to carry more or less weight.
by the looks of it, someone clued you in on the 14k gvw base.
good luck.
if it makes you feel any better, if I don't spend money to upgrade my fleet by Jan 1, 2015, I am out of business as a towing company in the the state of kali.

 

[maddog]

Towcat it doesn't make me feel any better, it ****** me off. Total bs. I am sorry to hear that.

I tend to believe you about the certified weight on the door sticker/vin, but I have not read that anywhere in anything I have read.
Where would I find that located?

 

[towcat]

Towcat it doesn't make me feel any better, it ****** me off. Total bs. I am sorry to hear that.

I tend to believe you about the certified weight on the door sticker/vin, but I have not read that anywhere in anything I have read.
Where would I find that located?

here's the website dealing with this nightmare.......
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/truckstop/truckstop.htm

 

[Andertusa]

Not to really stick my nose where it doesn't belong, as I really have no idea what I'm talking about. That being said, have you considered switching to 19.5 rims? I heard from a local tow operator that their truck was a higher GVW than they needed, so they switched down from the 22.5s and that dropped their GVW on the rig, by like 4,000lbs I think he said.

 

[mohavewolfpup]

If you want to play some hijinks, look into registering it in nye county here. No diesel smogging required. You have to smog diesels in clark (much to my dismay, I live in clark) but nothing in nye county. No smog check station for miles. I'm not a expert on it by any means, your mileage may vary. www.dmvnv.com

 

[maddog]

the deal is that its what your VIN number has attached to it. Mine is 26 k. I have registered it for a lower weight and pay less fees, but its still in the system and 20 years from its mfg date, they wont register it if it still has the original motor in it.

I am looking into to having the weight officially reduced. I will keep you posted when I know more.
This wouldn't work if you still wanted to carry that much weight, but I don't, its just a little pickup truck.

 

[drinkypoo]

If you want to play some hijinks, look into registering it in nye county here. No diesel smogging required.

This isn't about smog, it's about registration, based on gross weight.

FWIW, here in Lake county you only smog any vehicle once. As long as you keep it registered, never again until it's transferred to a non-family-member.

 

[ToughOldFord]

This isn't about smog, it's about registration, based on gross weight.

FWIW, here in Lake county you only smog any vehicle once. As long as you keep it registered, never again until it's transferred to a non-family-member.

Read the discussion again, this is about California's latest attack on diesel trucks via smog laws, not about commercial weight fees. And the diesel emission laws are statewide, not county by county like the original smog check program.

The Moonbat Mary Nichols of the California Air Resource Board is on a one-woman war to destroy the trucking industry in California. For some reason she has been allowed power that's not in the State Constitution to enact and enforce laws without the approval of the voters or their representatives. And making the diesel emission laws retroactive is such an obviously clear violation of the United States Constitution's Ex Post Facto clause that I am surprised that no one has contested it yet. And now the rules are beginning to take effect it'll be harder to contest it and impossible to undue the damage of all the small trucking companies that have gone under, the good trucks that have been retired, and money lost on unnecessary emission downgrades.

 

[towcat]

Read the discussion again, this is about California's latest attack on diesel trucks via smog laws, not about commercial weight fees. And the diesel emission laws are statewide, not county by county like the original smog check program.

The Moonbat Mary Nichols of the California Air Resource Board is on a one-woman war to destroy the trucking industry in California. For some reason she has been allowed power that's not in the State Constitution to enact and enforce laws without the approval of the voters or their representatives. And making the diesel emission laws retroactive is such an obviously clear violation of the United States Constitution's Ex Post Facto clause that I am surprised that no one has contested it yet. And now the rules are beginning to take effect it'll be harder to contest it and impossible to undue the damage of all the small trucking companies that have gone under, the good trucks that have been retired, and money lost on unnecessary emission downgrades.

you hit the head of the nail there. this new ruling created by CARB is specifically designed to put the little guy out of business. Large corporations have already been taking advantage of the tax credits for overhauling their fleets. I pulled my membership from cal tow truck association due to their silence on the matter.

 

[Agnem]

This is dangerous thinking in California, and you guys need to get up in arms about it. The people need to rise up and put a stop to this before it spreads to the rest of the country. You guys need a Ted Nugent or somebody like that out there to carry the torch. Sheeple will die.

 

[ToughOldFord]

you hit the head of the nail there. this new ruling created by CARB is specifically designed to put the little guy out of business. Large corporations have already been taking advantage of the tax credits for overhauling their fleets. I pulled my membership from cal tow truck association due to their silence on the matter.

That's what really has me flabbergasted, not so much the radical crap coming out of Sacramento, that's to be expected to a degree, but the fact that it's all going unchallenged. These 'laws' are so damaging and so illegal the fact that everyone is just rolling over and playing dead on the matter makes no sense to me at all.